Background
Callahan Creek sponsored the Kansas City premiere of "Linotype: The Film" in October 2012, a documentary about the Linotype type casting machine. Called the "Eighth Wonder of the World" by Thomas Edison, it revolutionized printing and society. The film tells the story of the people connected to the Linotype and how it changed the world for nearly a century. Although my career in newspapers began after the demise of Linotype machines, I worked with former operators and was familiar with the story.
Challenge
Designers at Callahan Creek competed in a blind shootout for the poster that would represent the Kansas City premiere. The winning poster design would be hand silk-screened by the designer at La Cucaracha Press in Kansas City, and a limited number would be given as gifts at the event.
Solution
Callahan Creek creative directors judged the entries, and two of my designs were chosen to represent the premiere.
The first poster concept focused on the end user—the reader—and featured slugs of type falling off the page to tease the emotion and sadness of the story. Concept two used the iconic Linotype keyboard as the primary visual, with the keys spelling out details of the event.
On opening night, director Doug Wilson said these were his favorite promotional posters of all the ones made for U.S. premieres. We also shot and edited a mini-documentary featuring copywriter Nick Kinney that played as a trailer before the film.
Art direction, design and screen printing // Chris Ralston Writer // Nick Kinney
